La loi des hors-la-loi

Waco is directed by R.G. Springsteen and adapted to screenplay by Steve Fisher from the novel Emporia written by Max Lamb and Harry Sandford. It stars Howard Keel, Jane Russell, Brian Donlevy, Wendell Corey, Terry Moore and John Agar. Music is by Jimmie Haskell and cinematography by Robert Pittack.

Gunfighter Waco (Keel) is given a pardon from his jail term to go clean up the town of Emporia.

Released in 1966 but feeling like it belongs in an earlier decade, Waco is a poor Western. As most Western fans will tell you, the "B" Western has its place in the heart and can quite often bring enjoyable rewards when the mood fits, unfortunately Waco is bad film making all round. Everything about it is tired, it's like it's desperately clinging on to the glory Western days of the 50s but doesn't know how to grasp with any conviction.

Filmed in Technicolor and Techniscope, not that you will notice, from the very beginning where Lorne Greene sings a cheese sandwich theme tune, film plays out as some sort of amateur dramatics production. Keel thinks he's in a hard-boiled film noir and voices it as such, often resorting to auto-cue line reading, and Donlevy shows up after an hour looking awful and literally doing a cameo to pay for his next bottle of Rye. Russell doesn't fare much better, phoning it in and the most memorable thing about her input is her bullet brassier!

The action is poorly constructed, with the big shoot-out proving to be more along the lines of a Keystone Cops skit, Haskell's music is simply rubbish, while what interesting character threads are in the story are sadly given short shrift by the writers (for example Corey's Reverend is briefly noted to have been part of Quantrill's Raiders). There's a level of glib humour about Keel's performance that keeps it just about watchable, while his indestructible capabilities makes him come over as a Captain Scarlet of the West. But really he's never convincing as a tough mutha and that just about sums up what an out of time Oater this is. 3/10

In this movie Keel is NOT a unloving-turned-loving Adam Ponifee nor a kind Wild Bill Hickok. Rather, he is about the meanest man anybody can find anywhere. He knows no bounds to treating people mean. Of course, in this particular movie he is the sheriff of a wild town which tries to be run by vengeful outlaws, outlaws who meet their match with him. The beautiful Jane Russell is superb as his love interest, but even she sometimes is frustrated with him. He is excellent in this role as the mean, no-nonsense marshal. A great acting feat for him. But I would hate to think for the people that knew him that he was ever this cold, hard, and mean!

If you decide to sit down and watch Waco, you'll probably think it belongs to the genre of western spoofs. I considered the possibility, but as the movie dragged on and didn't contain any actual jokes or banana peel pratfalls, I realized it was an actual western.

Jane Russell is married to Wendell Corey, a preacher, but her ex-sweetie-pie Howard Keel has just gotten released from prison and is travelling to their town to take over as sheriff. The only trouble is, he doesn't know Jane's married, and Jane still has feelings for him. Plus, the town is desperately in need of proper law and order, and when Howard shows up and causes a stir, it turns into a shooting free-for-all.

Yes, Waco is a ridiculously cheesy western, but it's the acting that really places it in terrible movie territory. Jane Russell was the main one who made me think the movie was a spoof, because almost all her lines were delivered like she thought the cameras were off and she wanted to make fun of the terrible lines she was given. Wendell Corey gives his best John Wayne impression, but it just doesn't work to see him as a preacher, since he's usually very unlikable bad guys. This movie just isn't worth watching, unless you're die-hard fans of the cast and insist on watching every movie your favorite actor or actress made.

The town is falling apart, so the decent people petition the governor to free Howard Keel so he can serve as their sheriff. He returns to find things changed: his girl, Jane Russell, is married to preacher Wendell Corey, and Brian Donleavy is leading one of the factions trying to own the town. What the town doesn't realize is that Keel has changed too.

THis is one of the Geezer Westerns produced by A.C. Lyles for Paramount, a chance to squeeze out the remaining juice from aging stars like John Agar and Richard Arlen. Its themes are very good, with the ideas of perception and aging brought squarely into focus. Keel is no longer the singing slab of beef he had been for MGM fifteen years earlier. Now he looks beefy and a bit worn around the edges. So does everyone, except for Wendell Corey, who seems to have been 50 when he first appeared on the big screen, and the same age when he last appeared on it.

Where the movie falls apart is in the mechanics of the western. There are no vistas, no beautiful landscape, and the fight that wraps up the plot looks random, with poor stuntwork. The result, despite a promising start, is just average.

A.C. Lyles turned out another good geezer western with Waco starring Howard Keel a recently released outlaw from prison who's been hired to clean up a really bad town run by saloon owner John Smith and his hired gun DeForest Kelley. Keel is kind of hoping to take things up where they left off with Jane Russell, but turns out she's gone and married preacher Wendell Corey. That sort of disillusions him as he wavers back and forth between doing the job he was hired or resuming his old outlaw ways.

If it's action you want than Waco will not disappoint. Keel in the title role and we never do learn his real name because he probably was not born with that name, has a number of nasty fights and shootings. Besides Smith and Kelley, he's also got the Jenner family to contend with he killed one of them years ago. Willard Parker and Reg Parton are the remaining Jenner brothers and there's Anne Seymour, Ma Barker of the old west. In many ways, she's the one you'll remember from this film.

Waco's also a pretty adult western with such themes as infidelity lightly touched upon and rape of Tracy Olsen an integral part of the story. The final shootout in the town involves just about every member of the cast.

If you like western action you can't go wrong with Waco.